29,646 research outputs found
Fracture toughness of SiC/Al metal matrix composite
An experimental study was conducted to evaluate fracture toughness of SiC/Al metal matrix composite (MMC). The material was a 12.7 mm thick extrusion of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with 40 v/o SiC particulates. Specimen configuration and test procedure conformed to ASTM E399 Standard for compact specimens. It was found that special procedures were necessary to obtain fatigue cracks of controlled lengths in the preparation of precracked specimens for the MMC material. Fatigue loading with both minimum and maximum loads in compression was used to start the precrack. The initial precracking would stop by self-arrest. Afterwards, the precrack could be safely extended to the desired length by additional cyclic tensile loading. Test results met practically all the E399 criteria for the calculation of plane strain fracture toughness of the material. A valid K sub IC value of the SiC/Al composite was established as K sub IC = 8.9 MPa square root of m. The threshold stress intensity under which crack would cease to grow in the material was estimated as delta K sub th = 2MPa square root of m for R = 0.09 using the fatigue precracking data. Fractographic examinations show that failure occurred by the micromechanism involved with plastic deformation although the specimens broke by brittle fracture. The effect of precracking by cyclic loading in compression on fracture toughness is included in the discussion
Feedback local optimality principle applied to rocket vertical landing VTVL
Vertical landing is becoming popular in the last fifteen years, a technology known under the acronym VTVL, Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing [1,2]. The interest in such landing technology is dictated by possible cost reductions [3,4], that impose spaceship’s recycling. The rockets are not generally de- signed to perform landing operations, rather their design is aimed at takeoff operations, guaranteeing a very high forward acceleration to gain the velocity needed to escape the gravitational force. In this paper a new control method based on Feedback Local Optimality Principle, named FLOP is applied to the rocket landing problem. The FLOP belongs to a special class of optimal controllers, developed by the mechatronic and vehicle dynamics lab of Sapienza, named Variational Feedback Controllers - VFC, that are part of an ongoing research and are recently applied in different field: nonlinear system [5], marine and terrestrial autonomous vehicles [6,7,8], multi agents interactions and vibration control [9, 10]. The paper is devoted to show the robustness of the nonlinear controlled system, comparing the performances with the LQR, one of the most acknowledged methods in optimal control
Equilibrium orbit analysis in a free-electron laser with a coaxial wiggler
An analysis of single-electron orbits in combined coaxial wiggler and axial
guide magnetic fields is presented. Solutions of the equations of motion are
developed in a form convenient for computing orbital velocity components and
trajectories in the radially dependent wiggler. Simple analytical solutions are
obtained in the radially-uniform-wiggler approximation and a formula for the
derivative of the axial velocity with respect to Lorentz factor
is derived. Results of numerical computations are presented and the
characteristics of the equilibrium orbits are discussed. The third spatial
harmonic of the coaxial wiggler field gives rise to group orbits which
are characterized by a strong negative mass regime.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, to appear in phys. rev.
Electric-field control of magnetic ordering in the tetragonal BiFeO3
We propose a way to use electric-field to control the magnetic ordering of
the tetragonal BiFeO3. Based on systematic first-principles studies of the
epitaxial strain effect on the ferroelectric and magnetic properties of the
tetragonal BiFeO3, we find that there exists a transition from C-type to G-type
antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase at in-plane constant a ~ 3.905 {\AA} when the
ferroelectric polarization is along [001] direction. Such magnetic phase
transition can be explained by the competition between the Heisenberg exchange
constant J1c and J2c under the influence of biaxial strain. Interestingly, when
the in-plane lattice constant enlarges, the preferred ferroelectric
polarization tends to be canted and eventually lies in the plane (along [110]
direction). It is found that the orientation change of ferroelectric
polarization, which can be realized by applying external electric-field, has
significant impact on the Heisenberg exchange parameters and therefore the
magnetic orderings of tetragonal BiFeO3. For example, at a ~ 3.79 {\AA}, an
electric field along [111] direction with magnitude of 2 MV/cm could change the
magnetic ordering from C-AFM to G-AFM. As the magnetic ordering affects many
physical properties of the magnetic material, e.g. magnetoresistance, we expect
such strategy would provide a new avenue to the application of multiferroic
materials.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Critical thickness and orbital ordering in ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films
Detailed analysis of transport, magnetism and x-ray absorption spectroscopy
measurements on ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films with thicknesses from 3 to 70
unit cells resulted in the identification of a lower critical thickness for a
non-metallic, non-ferromagnetic layer at the interface with the SrTiO3 (001)
substrate of only 3 unit cells (~12 Angstrom). Furthermore, linear dichroism
measurements demonstrate the presence of a preferred (x2-y2) in-plane orbital
ordering for all layer thicknesses without any orbital reconstruction at the
interface. A crucial requirement for the accurate study of these ultrathin
films is a controlled growth process, offering the coexistence of
layer-by-layer growth and bulk-like magnetic/transport properties.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Characteristics of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in industrial, industrial-urban, and industrial-suburban atmospheres of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of south China
In a study conducted in late summer 2000, a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured throughout five target cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of south China. Twenty-eight nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs; 13 saturated, 9 unsaturated, and 6 aromatic) are discussed. The effect of rapid industrialization was studied for three categories of landuse in the PRD: Industrial, industrial-urban, and industrial-suburban. The highest VOC mixing ratios were observed in industrial areas. Despite its relatively short atmospheric lifetime (2-3 days), toluene, which is largely emitted from industrial solvent use and vehicular emissions, was the most abundant NMHC quantified. Ethane, ethene, ethyne, propane, n-butane, i-pentane, benzene, and m-xylene were the next most abundant VOCs. Direct emissions from industrial activities were found to greatly impact the air quality in nearby neighborhoods. These emissions lead to large concentration variations for many VOCs in the five PRD study cities. Good correlations between isoprene and several short-lived combustion products were found in industrial areas, suggesting that in addition to biogenic sources, anthropogenic emissions may contribute to urban isoprene levels. This study provides a snapshot of industrial, industrial-urban, and industrial-suburban NMHCs in the five most industrially developed cities of the PRD. Increased impact of industrial activities on PRD air quality due to the rapid spread of industry from urban to suburban and rural areas, and the decrease of farmland, is expected to continue until effective emission standards are implemented. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union
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